The present invention relates generally to telephone equipment, and more particularly to an accessory device for a telephone.
At the conclusion of a telephone call, the user of the telephone may inadvertently leave the telephone in an off-hook condition. When this occurs, the telephone line connected to the telephone is unavailable for receipt or placement of further calls until the telephone is replaced on the hook. Specifically, during the off-hook condition, a party attempting to call the number of the telephone line is unable to connect to the telephone line and, instead, receives a busy signal. The user at the location of the off-hook telephone is also unable to make outgoing calls, whether over the off-hook telephone or another extension connected to the same telephone line. In addition, upon expiration of a time period following termination of the preceding call, an off-hook signal is generated and sent over the telephone line. This off-hook signal results in the generation of a series of loud beeps by the speaker of the off-hook telephone (these beeps are also heard if another extension on the same line is picked up). The beeps alert the user to replace the telephone handset on the hook.
Occasionally, it may occur that the off-hook beeps are not heard, and hence, a telephone may be left in the off-hook condition for a long period of time. This may occur, for example, when the telephone is located at a distance from the user such that the user is unable to hear the off-hook beeps, or where the user is hard-of-hearing, etc. . . . In addition to being a nuisance for a party attempting to reach the user, this occurrence can be dangerous in situations where communication is essential, for example, where it is necessary to monitor the well-being of the party located at the location of the telephone.
According to one aspect of the present invention, a telephone accessory device includes a first circuit that detects an off-hook condition of a telephone and a second circuit responsive to the first circuit wherein the second circuit simulates an on-hook condition when the off-hook condition is detected.
Preferably, the second circuit may comprise a switching circuit and the first circuit may comprise an off-hook tone detector. Also, a timer may be coupled between the first and second circuits and a reset circuit may be coupled to the timer. Still further, a driver circuit may be coupled between the timer and the second circuit.
Still further in accordance with the preferred embodiment, an indicator may be coupled to the driver circuit wherein the indicator may comprise at least one of a visual indicating device and an audible indicating device. In addition, a dialer and a message playback device may be coupled to the first circuit.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a telephone accessory device for connection to a telephone line and a telephone includes an off-hook detector coupled to the telephone line and operable to detect an inactive off-hook condition of the telephone and a switching circuit coupled between the telephone line and the telephone and responsive to the off-hook detector. The switching circuit is operable to disconnect the telephone from the telephone line when the off-hook condition is detected.
According to a still further aspect of the present invention, a telephone accessory device includes an off-hook tone detector that detects an inactive off-hook condition of a telephone and a switching circuit responsive to the off-hook tone detector that simulates an on-hook condition when the inactive off-hook condition is detected. An indicator is operative to provide an indication when the on-hook condition is simulated and a reset circuit is coupled to the switching circuit and is selectively operable to terminate simulation of the on-hook condition.